Past Exhibitions

Giant Robot, a staple of Asian American alternative pop culture, was launched in 1994 as a hand-assembled zine and quickly grew into a worldwide empire. At its height, Giant Robot included a glossy magazine, a retail website, several brick-and-mortar stores, and even a themed restaurant. More than two decades after its founding, Giant Robot continues to be regarded as a highly influential brand encompassing many aspects of pop art, skateboarder, comic book, graphic arts, and vinyl toy culture.

Since 2007, JANM has partnered with founder Eric Nakamura to produce the Giant Robot Biennale, a recurring art exhibition dedicated to showcasing the diverse creative works brought together by the Giant Robot ethos. The Biennales, which were initiated as part of JANM’s Salon Pop series of innovative youth culture exhibitions, have been among the museum’s most popular productions. This year, Giant Robot Biennale 4 will continue to celebrate Giant Robot’s distinctive world.

SPECIAL DISPLAY—ONE MONTH ONLY

Jidai: Timeless Works of Samurai Art looks at the weaponry and armor of the samurai—Japan’s elite warrior class. Assembled from collections in the greater Los Angeles area, Jidai features rare and historically significant samurai artifacts dating as far back as the Kamakura Period (AD 1185–1333) in Japan. The display also examines ways this facet of Japanese culture has been preserved, embraced, and shared in America.

Before They Were Heroes: Sus Ito’s World War II Images is the inaugural exhibition in Sharing Our Stories, a new series of exhibitions drawn from JANM’s extensive permanent collection. A celebration of the donation by Susumu “Sus” Ito of his vast archive of photographs and negatives taken while on duty during World War II, Before They Were Heroes gives the public a rare and breathtaking look at the daily lives of the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion of the celebrated all-Japanese American 442nd Regimental Combat Team.

Incorporating paintings by Laura Kina and photographs by Emily Hanako Momohara, Sugar/Islands: Finding Okinawa in Hawai‘i is a unique examination of worker migration and settlement from the islands of Okinawa to the islands of Hawai‘i, prompted by opportunities afforded by the latter’s sugar plantations and pineapple farms during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Kina’s Sugar and Momohara’s Islands series are individual bodies of work grounded in each artist’s own journey to uncover her family history; both examine the complex ways that the past is present in our collective and individual identities.

TRAVELING EXHIBITION

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
200 N. Boulevard
Richmond, VA 23220

Perseverance: Japanese Tattoo Tradition in a Modern World (original title) is a groundbreaking photographic exhibition that explores the master craftsmanship of traditional Japanese tattoos and their enduring influence on modern tattoo practices.

TRAVELING EXHIBITION

Towson University
Asian Arts Gallery
Towson, MD

Perseverance: Japanese Tattoo Tradition in a Modern World is a groundbreaking photographic exhibition that explores the master craftsmanship of traditional Japanese tattoos and their enduring influence on modern tattoo practices.

The Japanese American National Museum presents Hello! Exploring the Supercute World of Hello Kitty, the first large-scale Hello Kitty museum retrospective in the United States.

Organized as part of the global icon’s 40th-anniversary celebrations, the exhibition examines the colorful history of Hello Kitty and her influence on popular culture. Hello! includes an extensive product survey, with rare and unique items from the Sanrio archives, alongside a selection of innovative contemporary artworks inspired by Hello Kitty and her world.

TRAVELING EXHIBITION

Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre
Burnaby, BC, Canada

kip fulbeck: part asian, 100% hapa is an exhibition of portraits by artist Kip Fulbeck, who traveled the country photographing more than 1,000 Hapas of all ages and walks of life. Once a derogatory label derived from the Hawaiian word for half, the word Hapa has been embraced as a term of pride by many whose mixed-race heritage includes Asian or Pacific Rim ancestry.

Colors of Confinement presents 18 rare Kodachrome photographs taken by Bill Manbo during his incarceration at the Heart Mountain concentration camp in Wyoming in 1943 and 1944. It shatters preconceptions about this episode of injustice by showing it to us in vivid and beautiful color.

From their original roots in Brooklyn to today’s home in Los Angeles, the Dodgers are trailblazers in the world of sports, on and off the field. The franchise is dedicated to supporting a culture of winning baseball, providing a first-class, family-friendly experience at Dodger Stadium and maintaining strong partnerships in the community.

Dodgers: Brotherhood of the Game will explore the team’s storied past through four players and a Hall of Fame manager, each of whom made history in his own right: Jackie Robinson, Fernando Valenzuela, Chan Ho Park, Hideo Nomo, and Tommy Lasorda.